It is widely known that one should tear the leaves of herbs and leafy produce, such as basil or lettuce, rather than sharply cutting them with a knife of shears. Tearing the leaves releases the essential oils that provide the flavor and essence of the herb. When one tears or shreds the herb's leaves, the plants natural defense mechanism attempts to repair the cells that have been attacked and secretes the essential or natural oils which helps it to heal, in much the same way as human flesh. A tear to the skin will heal faster than a slicing cut, as the human body will naturally produce many more reparative cells as when it is ripped than it is cut. With the promotion of using fresh herbs and produce by health professionals, especially organics, a product is needed to properly prepare fresh herbs for use.
Currently available prior art is replete with products that will grind dried herbs, and they are mostly made with metallic grinding surfaces. Once the herb is in a dried state, the essential oils have mostly been evaporated or dehydrated, precluding the ability of the preparer to “tear” or shred the herb. Grinding the herb at this stage is the accepted preparation technique prior to introducing it to the food.
But it is also established that metal can oxidize in the presence of certain naturally secreted oils causing a discoloration of the herb. This can be seen especially in leafy products such as lettuce, which easily turns brown when cut with a steel knife. Many chefs and food preparation guide suggest the use of plastic knives when herbs and leafy produce can not for, some reason, be torn or naturally shredded by hand. The prior art is full of examples of grinding devices that are made of metal due to the need to maintain hardened surfaces to grind dried herbs, nuts or spices. It is the presences of these metallic pieces that can cause oxidation between the ferrous of the steel and the oils of the fresh herbs.
It is easily seen in the prior art that herbs that are dried, do not require the special handling of the fresh herb as the naturally occurring oils and essences have been dried out through a dehydration period, either naturally or through a sped up manmade process. The dehydration process will concentrate the essences of the herb. Dried herbs are crushed or ground to release the remaining oils and essences that remain upon their use in food or medicinal preparations. To the contrary, fresh herbs should not be ground or crushed as the essential or naturally occurring oils and essences will be left on the surfaces of the grinding apparatus or allowed to evaporate into the ambient atmosphere, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the herb to flavor or heal. It is also seen that fresh herbs are generally presented to the user while still attached to their stems. This is so the naturally occurring capillary action will reduce the naturally occurring drying process which occurs when the stem is removed from the living plant. The grinding of fresh stems with the actual leaves will produce a herb that is affected by the presences of the bitter, fibrous stem. It is desirous, and often difficult, to remove the leaves from the stem.
It is important that stems are not included in the use of most naturally occurring herbs and leafy produce to provide the user with the essence that is located primarily in the leaves and not be subjected to the bitter, fibrous stem material. As fresh herbs will dry out when introduced to the ambient air, users will attempt to retard this process by placing the herbs on their stems in containers that prevent the herbs from drying out. Placing herbs in a low humidity cool environment is ideal but the current methods can lead to two issues; 1) close fitting plastic bags will lead to spoilage of the herbs as there needs to be some form of air movement about the herb to prevent mildew and 2) herbs need to be separated from other herbs as their essences are not always desired to be commingled. Though plastic is a desired storage vessel, many essential oils will forever “flavor” a plastic container preventing it's use for other purposes and high quality plastic ware is usually not economically viable for single use applications.
It is an object of this invention to create a storage device that has the purpose of not only storing the herbs in an environment conducive to herb storage but can also be used in the proper preparation of the herbs for their eventual use.
It is a further object of this invention to provide the user with a device that is capable of naturally tearing or shearing herbs in a manner to reduce the chance of grinding or unnaturally chopping of the herbs.
It is a further object of this invention to disclose shearing implements that are capable of tearing or shredding the herbs while maintaining the minimal contact surface area necessary of the shredding implements thereby reducing the probability of leaving the essential oils of the herbs on the device and not on the herb as with large smooth surfaces.
It is a further object of this invention to aid in the defoliation of the herb from their stems in such a manner that the stem is easily removed in it's relatively whole state.
It is a further object of this invention to have the tearing or shredding portion of the device to be part of the storage device, reducing pieces to be used, manufactured or lost thereby reducing the overall cost of the product.
It is also a further object of this invention to create a device capable of multiple storage compartments within said device.
It is a further object of this invention to create a device that is designed to be capable of single use without a significant detrimental effect upon the economic effectiveness of the device.
It is a further object of this invention is to have the device designed so that residue and remaining herbs are easily replaced back into the device reducing the chance of contamination and to preserve unused product.